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‘There is no capacity to pass the costs onto customers’: Over 220 hospitality businesses sign letter to the Chancellor

The letter criticised the "unsustainable" and "regressive" changes to the employer National Insurance Contribution (NICs) threshold.

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The board members of UKHospitality, as well as a further 209 hospitality businesses, have collectively warned of job cuts and closures as a result of the rise to employment costs.

 

In a letter to the Chancellor, the bosses of Fuller’s, Stonegate Group and Whitbread, among others, stressed the industry will suffer as a result of the upcoming £3.4b bill in April.  

 

Hospitality is also disproportionately affected by the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), which were announced in the Budget last month.

 

Analysis by UKHospitality revealed the increases to employers’ NICs and wages will hit hospitality the hardest, with a 10% rise in the cost of employing a worker, amounting to at least £2,500 per employee.

 

The industry warned of small business closures within a year; a decline in investment plans; drastic job cuts; reduced hours and struggling contract caterers.

 

The signatories have therefore urged the government to either create a new employer NICs band from £5,000 to £9,100 with a lower rate of 5% or implement an exemption for lower band taxpayers working fewer than 20 hours per week, with the aim of supporting part-time and lower paid workers.

 

The letter said: “The changes to the NICs threshold are not just unsustainable for our businesses, they are regressive in their impact on lower earners and will impact flexible working practices which many older workers and parents rely upon. Unquestionably they will lead to business closures and job losses within a year.

 

“The threshold change brings many team members into employer NICs for the first time. We estimate the threshold change may be four times the cost of the new headline rate.”

 

It added: “There is no capacity to pass the costs onto customers. Businesses would be reluctantly forced to raise prices by 6-8%, fuelling inflation, yet could not realistically do so as our customers are at the end of their ability to pay more.

 

“We understand that these proposals come at an immediate financial cost, but we are absolutely firm in our belief that the lost growth potential which would result from inaction would be substantially more expensive, for the economy, for society and for the public finances.”

 

Signatories to the letter are:

 

UKHospitality board members:

 

Simon Emeny, chief executive, Fuller’s
Paul Flaum, group chief executive officer, Bourne Leisure Ltd
Stephen Holmes, CEO, Azzurri Group
Bob Ivell, non-executive chairman, Mitchells & Butlers
Ranjit Mathrani, chairman and co-owner, MW Eat
David McDowall, CEO, Stonegate Group
Kate Nicholls, chief executive, UKHospitality
Dominic Paul, chief executive, Whitbread
Rob Pitcher, CEO, The Revel Collective
Steve Richards, CEO, Parkdean Resorts
Catherine Roe, chief executive, Elior
Robin Rowland, partner, TriSpan LLP
Alexander Salussolia, managing director, Glendola Leisure Group
Chris Wayne-Wills, chief executive officer, Crerar Hotels

 

 A further 209 hospitality businesses:

 

Abokado

Mark Lilley

Advocate Group

Paul Weeks

Agility Marketing

Anita Waddell

All Our Bars Limited

Paul Wigham

Anglian Country Inns

Cliff & James Nye

ANS Hospitality

Alistair Sandall

Apex Hotels Limited

Angela Vickers

Arc Inspirations Limited

Ciara Allan

Bailiffscourt hotel & spa

Pontus Carminger

Bartlett Mitchell Ltd

Angus Brydon

Beer and Buns Limited

Maurice Abboudi

Best Western Claydon hotel

Khurram Saeed

Bidfood UK

Andrew Selley

Big Table Group

Alan Morgan

Bistrot Pierre

Nick White

Bleeding Heart Restaurants

Robert Wilson

Blunsdon House hotel Ltd

Chris Clifford

Bone Daddies Ltd

Steve Hill

Brewhouse and Kitchen

Kris Gumbrell

BWH hotels

Tim Rumney

BWH hotels GB

Russell Imrie

Calcot Health and Leisure Limited

Paul Sadler

Castlewood Hotels

Daniel Sangiuseppe

Chopstix Group

Jon Lake

Clayton Hotel Glasgow

Hazel Galloway

Congham Hall

Nicholas Dickinson

D&D London

David Loewi

Da Vinci hotel

Paul Metcalf

Dart Marina hotel

Paul Downing

Drake & Morgan

Jillian Maclean

Eastbourne Reymar

Nick Samuels

Empire Hotel Llandudno

Elyse Waddy

English Lakes Hotels, Resorts & Venues

Matt Stanaway

ETM Group Ltd

Ed Martin

ETM Group Ltd / Maven Leisure Limited

Landen Prescott Brann

Exclusively Eastbourne Holiday Homes

Carl Stanger

G C Mallen & Co

Garry Mallen

Glasgow Grosvenor hotel

Michael Balman

Gravetye Manor hotel & restaurant

Apal Shah

Greater Glasgow Hotel Association

Janice Fisher

Greene King

Nick Mackenzie

Gusto Pronto

Roxane Marjoram

Harbour Hotels Group

Michael Warren

Harrison Catering Services Ltd

Claire Aylward

Heartwood Collection

Chris Guy

Hippodrome Casino Ltd

Simon Thomas

Historic Sussex Hotels Ltd

Pontus Carminger

Hospitality Ulster, on behalf of 100 NI businesses

Colin Neill

HwS Ltd (Pizza Hut Restaurants)

Jens Hofma

Hyatt Hotels UK

Arnaud de Saint-Exupery

Hyatt Place Heathrow

Stephen Brown

Hyatt Regency London – the Churchill

Georges Moura

IHG Hotels & Resorts

Joanna Kurowska

International Golf & Resort Management Ltd

Michael Longshaw

JD Wetherspoon

John Hutson

JXL Ltd T/A Jump Xtreme & That Fun Place

Cliff Nicholls

La Gaffe

Lorenzo Stella

Lavval Restaurants Ltd (t/a Spaghetti House)

Isabel Montes de Oca

leaf Hospitality

Richard Farrar

Legacy Hotels & Resorts Ltd

Andy Townsend

Livelyhood Venues Ltd

Emma Semple

Loungers

Nick Collins

Lucky Voice

Charlie Elek

Malmaison and Hotel du Vin

Scott Harper

Marston’s PLC

Justin Platt

Menagerie restaurant

Karina jadhav

Milsom Hotels and Restaurants

Paul Milsom

Nelson Hotels

Andrew Nelson

Netherwood Hotel and Spa

Rachael Tise-Tigwell

North Shore Hotel and Golf Club

William Mitchell

North Wales Tourism Ltd

Jim Jones

Nusa Kitchen

Karen Cunningham

Oak Taverns Ltd

David Collinson

Oakman Inns

Peter Borg-Neal

Only A Pavement Away

Greg Mangham

Paris Baguette UK Co., Ltd

Nicolas Gaillot

Pho restaurant

Patrick Marrinan

Petwood Hotel Ltd

George Kane

Port Kitchen at Shoreham Port

Polly Child

Poste Hotels Ltd

Michael Evered

Reignite Purpose

Stella Amor

Schloss Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course

Bruno De Schuyter

Sidmouth Hotels & Inn Ltd

Jo Watson

St Austell Brewery

Kevin Georgel

The Genuine Dining Co.

Chris Mitchell

The Hand At Llanarmon Ltd

Jonathan Greatorex

The Lancaster Landmark Hotel Company Ltd

Marina Aleksandrovic

The Lovat Loch Ness Limited

Caroline Gregory

The Queensberry Hotel and Olive Tree Restaurant

Laurence Beere

The Restaurant Group

Andy Hornby

The Restaurant Group Concessions

Jonathan Knight

The Wellbeing Farm

Celia Gaze

The Wildhive Collection Limited

Charles Randall

Thunderbird Fried Chicken

Paul Gilchrist

Thurlestone Estates Ltd

Graham Grose

Thurlestone Hotel

Tim Hassell

Tortilla

Andy Naylor & Brandon Stephens

Tossed

Neil Sebba

Town & Country Collective

Fred Hitchcock

UKHospitality Cymru

Dave Chapman

UKHospitality Scotland

Leon Thompson

Vacherin

Phil Roker

Valiant Pub Company

Gerry Carroll

View Hotel Eastbourne

Matt Huddart

Voco Grand Central Glasgow

Marcello Ventisei

Wahaca

Mark Selby

Wasabi

Henry Birts

WH Pubs Ltd

Brian Keeley-Whiting

WT Hotels Ltd

Shaun Whitehouse

YHA (England and Wales)

James Blake

Young’s

Simon Dodd

Z Hotels

Rosamund Young

 

 

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